Even though mice with lupus make more harmful antibodies when eating a lot of salt, their blood pressure and kidney damage don’t get worse than mice eating normal salt.

When mice with a lupus-like disease eat a lot of salt for months, they make more of the harmful antibodies that attack their own body, even though their blood pressure and kidney damage don't get worse.

When mice with lupus eat a lot of salt, their kidneys make less of a signaling molecule called IL-2, which might reduce inflammation — even though their immune system is more active overall.

Even though salt is known to trigger inflammation through a protein called SGK1, in these lupus mice, eating a lot of salt didn’t change SGK1 levels in the kidney’s inner part — suggesting this pathway isn’t involved here.

When mice with lupus eat a lot of salt, their kidneys release more of a chemical called endothelin-1, but they also make less of the receptor that makes blood vessels tighten — which might help protect their blood pressure.